


Rules of Courtship

by JewishDavidJacobs



Series: A New Beginning [3]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, Class Differences, David and Katherine disagree, F/M, Jack is annoying and thinks he's funny, Ralph is a good big brother, but he is also annoying and thinks he's funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24563341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JewishDavidJacobs/pseuds/JewishDavidJacobs
Summary: "I would’ve liked more time to prepare to meet your parents.”“You’ve already met my father.”“Yeah, when you yelled at him and called him a fool, remember?”“Shut up, Jack."Katherine's parents aren't sold on this new dating thing. They prefer traditional courtship, which means that David has less than twenty-four hours to prepare to meet the Pulitzers. Katherine's also having some new experiences and her eyes opened with the help of Jack and her older brother.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Katherine Plumber
Series: A New Beginning [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769605
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	Rules of Courtship

“He’s more…traditional than your parents are, David.” 

“But we’ve only been out once!”

Katherine shrugged.

“That’s his point, I think. This is all new to him. This is how Ralph did it and so he thinks this is how I should too.”

Her father had been on her about courting. He knew she was seeing someone but not who it was. Dating was new to Joseph Pulitzer, to say the least. He was used to the traditional style of courtship which often involved families being around. In his defense, dates were a relatively new phenomenon and he’d been married for over twenty years.

“I don’t see why it’s a big deal. Just come to my house for dinner and have a drink with my father and Ralph.”

“I’m not eighteen.”

“He doesn’t care.”

“I…Katherine, I don’t know,” David said. She was getting agitated. What was the big deal? 

“Why does it matter? You’re calling it off because you don’t want to have a meal with my father?”

“What? No! No, Katherine, I swear.” He looked panicked. “I’ll…I’ll come. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think I wouldn’t do it if it means that much to you.” 

Katherine rolled her eyes.

“It doesn’t mean that much to  _ me,  _ it’s about my parents.” David nodded. He looked upset and she couldn’t help but grab his hand. “Although it means a lot that you would be willing to do it for me.”

He smiled and brought her hand to his lips.

“Of course. So when would this be?”

“Tomorrow?”

“What?” David looked panicked again. 

“I’m sorry!” Katherine defended. “I was trying to get out of it and then I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you’d freak out.”

“You were right,” Jack said. He was sitting on a windowsill in the main room of the lodging house, reading the paper.

“Shut up, Jack.”

“Katherine…I’ll come but can you please tell me earlier in the future? For big things in general. I would’ve liked more time to prepare to meet your parents.”

“You’ve already met my father.”

“Yeah, when you yelled at him and called him a fool, remember?” 

“Shut up, Jack,” she said again. 

“You’ll be fine, okay? Ralph likes you-”

“I met Ralph for all of thirty seconds.”

“I’ve told him about you. And my other siblings will like you too and so will my mother.”

“Yeah, but it’s your father he’s scared of.”

“Shut up, Jack.” David ordered. “I’m just worried he’s going to take one look at me, realize who I am, and tell me I can’t see you anymore.” He looked legitimately nervous and she did her best to soothe him. She put her hand on his arm, caressing it. 

“I don’t care about my parents’ approval.”

“If that were true we wouldn’t even be doing this,” he pointed out with a sigh. 

Katherine didn’t have a response. She pulled him into a hug instead. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to feel all this pressure. But I promise, even if he says that, I’m not going anywhere, okay?” 

He nodded.

“Okay.”

That night, she was sitting with her brother in the parlor, drinking what was arguably too much wine. 

“So how’d he take it?” Ralph asked, switching the subject away from his work. She glared at him over the brim of her glass as she took a too big sip. “That well, huh?”

“He wasn’t exactly thrilled.”

“Can you blame him?”

“No, but it would’ve been nice if he was super excited for some reason.”

Ralph rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

“But he’s coming, yes?”

“He’s coming. He’ll be here at six.”

“He’s probably going crazy, poor guy.” 

“What?” she asked, concerned. “Why would he be going crazy?”

“Well, you don’t show up to the house of the girl you’re trying to court empty handed.”

Katherine wasn’t sure why that was relevant.

“Okay?”

“Seriously, Kitty? He’s one of the newsies.”

“So?” 

“How much spare money do you think he has?”

Being told that was like a blow to the chest. Obviously Katherine knew David didn’t have much money but the idea that she had stressed him out about that without it occurring to her made her feel incredibly guilty.

“Oh.”

“Don’t be like that,” he said softly. “Come here.” She leaned against his side and continued to drink. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“No, because either he shows up with something and he’s spent money or he doesn’t and he looks bad.”

“Maybe you should mention to Mother and Fa-”

“No!”

“Yeah, as soon as I started saying it I realized it was a bad idea.” 

“Should I talk to him during my lunch break tomorrow?” 

Ralph shook his head. 

“No, you’ll hurt his pride.”

“David isn’t like that.”

“Every man is like that a little bit. Even if he isn’t, he’ll be mortified, won’t he?”

“I guess. Jack  _ did _ say he was upset on his first day when he tried to buy him extra papers.”

“There you go. But talk to Jack if you’re so worried. He knows David better than I do, obviously, so maybe he’ll disagree.”

She nodded. That sounded like a good solution. The problem was getting Jack alone when he was supposed to be selling with David.

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about how many well meaning but offensive things Mother is going to say. We can take bets if you- ow!” 

“Jack!” Katherine whisper-yelled. “Jack Kelly!” 

Jack turned around and startled at Katherine, who was standing in the dark alley. 

“Kath? What the hell are you-”

“Listen! I was waiting for David to leave. When will he be back?” 

“Like ten minutes? He went to make sure Les isn’t dead.”

“Okay, good.” She stepped out onto the sidewalk and brushed off her skirt.

“What the hell is going on? Why are you hiding in alleys?”

“One alley, not multiple,” she countered. “I needed to talk to you without David knowing.”

“About what?”

“About tonight.”

Jack rolled his eyes. 

“I’ve spent the last four hours talking about tonight. He’s coming, I promise.”

“Four hours?”

“He’s like one big ball of anxiety but that ain’t new. What about tonight?”

Katherine sighed. 

“I should’ve realized yesterday, but is David worried about bringing something? Ralph mentioned it and I thought that maybe-”

“Are you kidding me?” Jack rolled his eyes again and laughed humorlessly. “Of course he is!”

She felt a pit in her stomach and all she wanted was to give David a hug.

“What can I do to help?”

“Nothing. He’s got it covered, Ace, don’t worry about it.”

“But-”

“Seriously. I won’t tell him you asked but he’s my best friend and I don’t like lying to him so don’t put me in the middle, okay?” 

“Okay. Thanks anyway, Jack.” She tried to leave but he stepped in her way.

“You need to relax too. There ain’t nothing you can do about it and there wouldn’t have been last night either.”

“Yeah. We just have to get through tonight and then-”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?” 

Jack looked exasperated and borderline frustrated. He had the look on his face that Katherine wore when she listened to her coworkers talk about suffrage. It was a look that said “you’re an absolute idiot.” 

“I  _ mean,  _ that it ain’t just tonight. He’s not gonna suddenly not be poor tomorrow. He’s gonna have to figure this out on every date and every time he sees your folks.” He must have noticed how distraught she was because he lightheartedly added, “Romance is expensive, Plumber. Don’t you remember that song Medda sang the day we met?”

“Seriously?” she hissed in Ralph’s ear. “This is the one time he comes home before ten and he’s being impatient with  _ us?  _ He’s the one who said six!”

“Relax, Kitty, it’s only quarter to. He’ll be here. Father can get over it. And you don’t have to whisper; there’s no way they can hear us.” 

The two of them were waiting in the foyer with an annoyed footman who clearly wanted them gone, but Katherine wasn’t leaving David alone when he came in and Ralph wasn’t leaving Katherine to freak out by herself. 

There was a knock at the door and the footman went to answer it. 

“Uh, hello,” she heard David say, “my name is David and I’m here to Mr. and Mrs. Pulitzer and their daughter Ms. Pulitzer?” 

Katherine smiled at his formality. It was a little bit adorable. He was let in and he handed a rather expensive looking bottle of whiskey to the footman and said, “this is a gift for Mr. and Mrs. Pulitzer.”

Where had that come from? She didn’t give herself time to think about it because once the footman was out of sight, Katherine pulled David into a hug. 

“Hi.”

“Hi. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. These are for you.” He handed her the bouquet of flowers he had behind his back. She smiled again and kissed his cheek. 

Ralph cleared his throat.

“You know  _ I  _ don’t care, but technically you’re not supposed to be touching at all.” 

David nodded.

“I know. It’s good to see you.” 

“You as well. Are you ready to face the music, David?”

“No, but I don’t exactly have a choice.” 

Katherine squeezed his hand one last time before letting go and following her brother’s lead. David looked ridiculously nervous but there wasn’t much she could do about it. As they walked towards the sitting room, the volume of the chatter and laughter increased.

It was a full house tonight. All five of Katherine’s siblings were there, as well as Ralph’s fiancée, Margaret; their uncle, Albert; their parents; and the children’s nanny, Mary. Katherine suspected her parents had done this on purpose to intimidate her date. She would have told David if she had known ahead of time but she hadn’t, which was probably the reason he looked so sick as they stepped into the room. 

“Ah, Katherine, darling,” her mother said, “introduce us to your young man.” 

When Ralph stepped out of the way so that people could see David, Pulitzer froze. 

_ “You.” _

“Father, please, be civil,” Ralph said tersely.

“I’m sorry, do you know this young man, Joseph?” Mrs. Pulitzer asked. “What’s your name?”

“David Jacobs, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me in your lovely home.” 

Pulitzer didn’t say anything as David was introduced one by one to each family member, he just stood still.

“Joseph,” Mrs. Pulitzer said, as David stood awkwardly, waiting for a greeting before sitting down, as was proper. Katherine tried not to be too proud of him for staying so composed but it was hard. “What’s wrong?” 

He ignored her and turned to Katherine.

“Did you do this to incite me, Katherine?” 

“What? Of course not! I like David because I like David. Believe it or not, not every second of my life is spent trying to find ways to frustrate you.”

“Too many of them are,” he grumbled. “Fine.” He walked towards David and shook his hand aggressively. “I trust you’re well, Mr. Jacobs.”

“Yes, sir, and yourself?” 

“Fine.” He sat and Ralph invited David to sit in between himself and Uncle Albert. Katherine really wished that he was allowed to sit next to her instead. She wanted to give him a kiss on the forehead and make him feel better.

Maybe she was projecting, though. It was entirely possible that she felt worse than David did at the moment. After all, he had fought her father on a far more public stage than this sitting room and had come out on top.

“How is it that you know David, Father?” Constance asked. 

“David sells my papers. Don’t you, boy?”

His wife glared at him.

“Yes, sir, I do,” David said proudly, although Katherine could tell it was mostly an act. 

“Oh,” he mother said, “so…you’re a newsboy then?” 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“David’s also a student at St. George’s,” Katherine interjected.

“Are you?” 

“Yes, ma’am, I am. Right now I’m taking some time off to support my family but I hope to graduate at the end of this year.”

“What is it that you want to do?” Uncle Albert asked. “Any ambitions?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, sir.” While that was technically true, Katherine knew he had ideas of what he wanted to do, neither of which it was likely her father would approve of. David thought he might want to be a labor organizer of some kind, but there was zero money in that. 

His other idea, the one he had had for a long time, was that he might want to be a rabbi. He wasn’t sure that he did anymore, or so he told Katherine. She knew that her father would eventually realize just how brilliant David was and that when he did, he would be upset if he didn’t spend his life as a writer or politician or mathematician or something of the like.

“That’s certainly a twist,” her father commented. “The lady with career aspirations and the boy without.”

“I have aspirations, sir, I’m just not sure through which career I’d like to channel them.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Katherine saw both Edith and Ralph make little tick marks in the air that, had she not been looking, she wouldn’t have noticed. They had told her earlier that they would be keeping score to see who won the night: their father or David. Katherine thought they were ridiculous.

“And how did you meet our dear Katherine?” Mrs. Pulitzer asked him. 

“During the newsies strike, ma’am. She was invaluable to the cause and it was an honor to have her write about it.”

Pulitzer huffed but Constance spoke before he could say anything.

“Can one of you tell us the story? I want to hear how you met.”

Katherine looked to David. 

“The floor’s yours, miss.” 

She almost choked on nothing when he called her that. She should have been expecting it, she supposed. The boys often mocked David about the formal rules he had had to follow at St. George’s. It made sense that he would have been schooled in etiquette.

“Well,” she began hesitantly, “I met David’s friend Jack a few days beforehand. The strike began and when I learned he was their leader I went to find him and I met David.” 

Constance looked to David inquisitively.

“Newsies have leaders?”

“Uh, yes, miss,” he answered a little awkwardly. “I was surprised to learn how structured the newsboys and girls of New York are. The person Ms. Pulitzer was referring to, Jack, is the leader for lower Manhattan and the president of the union which is citywide.”

“Are you a leader?” 

“No, miss, not really.” 

“He’s being modest,” Ralph said, clapping him on the shoulder. “David’s the union’s vice president, right?”

“Um…yes, sir, technically.” 

“Well are you or aren’t you?” Pulitzer asked. 

“Yes, but there’s politics involved, sir.”

“Yes,” Katherine took over for David, who sent her a thankful look, “like David said, it’s surprising how structured it is and how complicated.” 

“How does it work?” Her father suddenly seemed curious. 

“Fath-”

“I’m asking Mr. Jacobs. How does it work?” 

“I…I’m sorry but I can’t discuss that with you, sir.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m loyal to the union.”

“So not to my daughter then?” Katherine was going to scream at her father later for putting David through this. 

“I’m very loyal to your daughter, Mr. Pulitzer, but it’s not her who’s asking.” There was a moment of tension (in which Ralph and Edith each made another tick mark). Luckily, the dinner bell rang.

In the dining room, David pulled out Katherine’s chair for her and once she was seated, he sat between Ralph and Joe. 

The impression Katherine had gotten was that this would be a dinner that David happened to be attending, but it was quickly becoming clear that it was more of a dinner  _ about  _ David or, more accurately, about interrogating him. 

“Tell us about your family, David,” Uncle Albert requested.

“There isn’t much to say, sir.”

“Nonsense. What does your father do?”

“He worked in a factory until recently.”

“But not now?”

“He was injured,” David explained. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” her mother said. “When was this?”

“About three months ago.”

“Is he any better?”

David smiled tightly.

“Some days are better than others.”

“So, he didn’t study then?” her father asked. “He’s uneducated?” 

Katherine could practically feel David bristling. Most of the adults at the table gave her father pointed looks.

“He’s educated. He was a teacher back in Poland.” 

“You’re immigrants?” Margaret asked. “When did you move here?” 

“Almost ten years ago, miss.”

There was an awkward silence

“Why?” Joe asked, completely unaware. 

“Let’s move on,” Ralph suggested. “What type of teacher, David?”

“Religious. He was the melamed in our village.”

“David’s mother was a surgeon’s assistant,” Katherine said, earning herself a glare. David was probably worried that her family wouldn’t approve and while outwardly that may have been true for some of them, they would be secretly impressed. 

“Was she? Fascinating,” her mother said. 

“Do you have any siblings?” Joe asked. “Because if you don’t you can take some of mine.” Her parents tried to look stern but everyone else laughed. 

“I have two,” David said. “A sister and a brother.”

“They’re both great,” Katherine told her family.

“You’ve met them?” her uncle asked. “Have you been to Mr. Jacobs’ home, then?” He looked like he was about to lose it.

“No,” Katherine assured. “Les is a newsboy and Sarah helped with the strike. So no, I haven’t been. Yet.”

“He’ll be fine, Katherine,” Margaret told her as they sat in the sitting room after dinner, “Ralph will make sure of it.”

David was in her father’s study with her brother and uncle, and Katherine was sitting with the other women and her younger brothers. She could picture the tense look on David’s face. He was likely miserable and it was all because of her. 

“He’s very charming, dear,” her mother said comfortingly.

“Yeah,” she replied distractedly. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

“Oh, you know your father. He’s probably boring him with business and-”

“He’s not going to talk to David about business, Mother.” She turned to her. “What do you think of him?”

“I already said that I think he’s charming.”

“So is President McKinley but you don’t like him.”

Her mother sighed. 

“He’s very sweet, Katherine, and clearly he cares about you a lot, but…darling, he’s penniless.”

“I don’t care about that. It’s not like we’re exactly lacking in funds.”

“It’s inappropriate to marry outside of your social class.”

Katherine and David hadn’t discussed marriage yet. Why would they have? They’d been together for less than two months. She knew, however, that courtship usually revolved around the idea of getting married and so it made sense that her mother would be thinking about it. 

“Who cares? I’ve met the type of men you’d prefer me to marry and I’ve been mingling with them my whole life. The handful of people you and father expect me to choose between…David’s better then all of them put together.”

“Katherine-”

“He’s smarter, too.”

“You don’t know that.”

“He’s seventeen and he and a bunch of friends beat Father, Reid, and Hearst.”

“Katherine!” Her mother looked scandalized. 

“Well, they did,” Edith mumbled. 

“I get that you have concerns but I’ve already told you how I feel.”

“And how’s that?”

“That I’ll marry who I want, when I want, or I won’t marry at all.”

“Marriage is wonderful, sweetheart. It’s very rewarding and-”

“I’m sure it can be with the right person but none of the men you like for me  _ are.” _

“Then we’ll find someone else.”

Katherine shook her head adamantly. 

“No. I like David.”

“Why, because he’d let you pursue your career?”

“He wouldn’t  _ let  _ me do anything. We see each other as equals.”

“Would he convert?”

“Did Father?”

“Would  _ you  _ be expected to convert?”

“I don’t know! Look, Mother, we haven’t even begun to discuss marriage. We’ve gone out together once and we’ve known each other for less than three months.”

“People marry in less than that.”

“Good for them. That isn’t what I want. Besides, he has to graduate first.”

“That’s another thing, Katherine. He’s not even graduated!”

“Neither was Ralph when we met,” Margaret pointed out. Katherine gestured to her. 

“He wasn’t graduated from  _ college,  _ Margaret, there’s a difference. Does he plan on attending college?”

“I don’t know. Mother, I have to get to know him better. Can we just drop it for now? The whole marriage thing?”

“If you’re going to be courting him then you should talk about marriage.”

Katherine rolled her eyes. 

“It’s different now.”

“Courting is a much better way to find a relationship. Katherine,” she said with a sigh, “you’re my daughter and I love you dearly. I only want what’s best for you.”

Katherine got up and went to sit next to her mother, taking her hands in her own.

“I know that, Mother, and I love you too. But just because it’s what you think is best for me doesn’t mean it is. If…if it makes you feel any better, I can envision myself having a future with David.”

“Do you love him?”

Katherine smiled. 

“It’s too early for that, but I think I could. He’s…Mother, he’s the most amazing boy I’ve ever met. I don’t love him yet but I love things  _ about  _ him.”

“Like what?”

“He’s kind and generous and sweet and thoughtful and selfless to a fault. I know what Father expects for me in a husband but just because he isn’t rich doesn’t mean he can’t be those things. He’s brilliant enough to have gotten a scholarship to St. George’s. If Father is so concerned about the intelligence of who I’m with then David passes that test with flying colors.”

“That’s true,” Margaret said. “He kept up very well with the boys’ political talk and he seems to be an excellent conversationalist as well.” 

“See?” Katherine gestured to Margaret. “I’m not the only person who thinks so.”

Her mother scrunched up her face as if she was thinking very hard 

“You’d want to go by the name Jacobs instead of Pulitzer?”

“I already don’t go by Pulitzer professionally.”

“Where would you live, hmm? In a tenement? In the slums?” 

“Mother, I told you I wasn’t thinking about marriage yet.”

“Well, you have to be! Do you want me to help you with your father or not?”

Katherine perked up.

“You’re okay with David?” 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea but he’s a lovely boy and I know that nothing I could say would dissuade you. I’ll give you two more months, and then you have to at least discuss marriage with him.”

“But, Mother, he-”

“Deal?” she repeated, leaving no room for argument. Katherine sighed but acquiesced. “Good. Once you do that I’ll talk to your father.”

“He would be angry about it for at least the next month even if I never saw David again, you know that.”

“And I’ll defend him but I won’t fight for his blessing until you-”

“I don’t care about his blessing,” Katherine argued.

“You do. Even if you don’t care about his opinion, he’s the one providing for you.”

“I have a job.”

“You think you’d be able to live like this on your salary?”

Katherine didn’t say anything. Margaret did her best to move the conversation along but the other girls only wanted to hear about David.

“Come on, Kitty, what was the first thing he said to you?” Constance asked. 

“I don’t remember.”

“Why not?”

“Because there were about a million other boys in the room and I didn’t know I’d end up being interested in him so I didn’t pay that much attention to memorizing it.”

“You’re no fun. Does he tell you you’re pretty?”

“He has. And I think he’s pretty too.”Her sisters giggled.

When her mother left the room briefly, Edith looked around conspiratorially and asked, “Has he kissed you?”

“That’s an inappropriate question, Edith,” Margaret scolded. “That’s not our business. And don’t let your mother hear you asking it.” 

Joe rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t get it! Why would anybody want to kiss anybody else?”

“You’ll get it when you’re a little bit older. I didn’t want to kiss anybody at your age either, Joe.”

“And now you want to kiss my brother? Gross.”

“Hey, that’s not-” Margaret cut herself off when the men returned to the room.

“Say goodbye to Mr. Jacobs, everyone,” her father said sternly. When they did, Ralph offered to walk with him to the door so that Katherine could go too. Her father didn’t look happy but he didn’t comment.

In the foyer, Katherine wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you, David. I’m sorry you had to sit through that.”

“That’s okay,” he said, “I don’t mind.”

“Did my father break your soul in there?” she asked. 

Ralph and David chuckled. 

“Actually, Father wholeheartedly approved of his choice in whiskey.”

Katherine stared at David questioningly. 

“Where did you get that, by the way?” 

“Denton has an absurd amount of alcohol in his apartment.” She laughed. “Thank you for inviting me. I hope I didn’t embarrass you too badly.” 

Ralph turned away to give them some semblance of privacy.

“Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t embarrass me at all.” 

“Really?” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. Do you think your family liked me?” 

“My siblings and Margaret loved you and I think my mother tried her best not to, but did anyway.”

“And your uncle? I’m not even going to aim for your father.”

“I can never tell what he thinks but don’t worry, he’s moving back to Europe soon, so who cares?”

He laughed.

“I should probably go so I’m not chased out.” David took her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it softly. “Thank you for everything.”

“Thank  _ you.  _ Can I come by your selling spot tomorrow and see you?”

“Please do. Good night.”

“Good night.” 

He said good night to Ralph and left. 

“How did it go in the study?” she asked him. 

“It went about as well as can be expected. Father tried to embarrass him and David didn’t let him. He’s quick, that boy of yours. But he was also respectful so Father can’t say anything on that front.”

“I’m glad. That’s a relief.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone who has clearly never been in high society before be so versed in the ridiculous etiquette of courtship,” he said, walking with her back to their family. “I know he was taught it at school, but still. Most of the other boys have occasion to use it.”

“Now he does too, if our father doesn’t disown me first. So, yes? You think it was a success overall?” 

“Well, I have to confer with Edith but by my count-”

“Shut up.”


End file.
